. >> remember how in the year 2000 when al gore invaded the space of george w. bush and people said look what he did, and bush diffused it with kind of a little funny greeting and shrug of his shoulders and he kept talking to the audience. these guys got in each other's face and were bark, the whole tim time. both of them i think were too hot at times for the television audience but that shows you how much they want it. >> in the era of cable, hotness sometimes counts. john harwood, be back with you in a little bit. simon? >>> we have two big stories in housing right now. the first is the big jump that we've reported today in housing starts. the second is breaking right now with diana olick in washington. >> simon, bank of america reporting it has completed or approved more than $4.75 billion in more principal reductions. 30,000 homeowners getting their loans slashed by an average $145,000 each. bank says it will meet its total obligations under the settlement in the first of the three-year agreement. now that break news just adds to the positive numbers in hous